


Solace

by smartiewashere



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 10:38:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11507664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartiewashere/pseuds/smartiewashere
Summary: the tales of Clarisse and her group of youngins





	1. Healing

**Author's Note:**

> Just a thing I wrote for class (at 2-3 am) once! Kind of based on FMA and Voltron whoops. But anyways, enjoy!

A feeling of relief swept up her shoulders as Clarisse headed to the infirmary to check on her teammates’ condition. The battle that took place the night before caused her team to retreat from the hordes of advanced weaponry the Superiors decided to test out on the humans, who were now recovering from the crippling loss they had suffered. Since the healing pods were limited, the most important and higher-ranking soldiers got treatment first, leaving everyone else to have their team assigned to a room in a five-story hospital. In a desolate desert, there were not as many pods as there were in the grand city located in the middle of the continent. Though the human race had developed more advanced technology that didn’t exist in 2017 (20000 years ago), they were still not able to face the many dangers of the outside world, evolved creatures around every corner and unpredictable weather that never seemed to settle into a regular rhythm.

As Clarisse stepped into the sterile environment of the infirmary, she felt her teammates’ sunken eyes staring at her bowed head, waiting for her to explain what their next move was. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Clarisse raised her head, meeting each of their eyes. Her hazel eyes swept around the room, taking in the damaged state of her friends as she sat on her bed.

Kenneth had a bandage wrapped around his upper right arm, covering up a large but shallow gash. His left leg was stuck in a splint, rendering him unable to get up and move around. Clarisse noticed one of his eyes was puffy, probably forming a bruise, though there was a fresh ice pack on the nightstand near his bed. Kenneth had attacked the weapons head-on with Paige, taking quite a beating from the fight. He managed to form a small smile before collapsing back on his bed, sighing heavily and turning to grab the ice pack to soothe the swelling around his eye.

Paige was lying down on her bed, breaths shallow and eyes unfocused. She had a splint on her wrist because of how she had twisted it from using her dagger to fend off the oncoming waves of attackers. Paige also suffered from a few broken ribs, as Clarisse had heard from the nurses in charge of her team. Upon seeing Clarisse entering the room, Paige tried to sit up, but to no avail. Clarisse shot her a warning look, knowing that if Paige tried to get up now, she would stay longer in the hospital. Paige took on a sheepish grin, going back to her original position.

Ivan and Ivy were sound asleep on a bunk bed, snoring loudly. Clarisse decided not to wake them up, as they were likely tired from the strenuous battle. Their job was to keep watch on Kenneth and Paige, making sure they do not get into too much trouble, and shooting at anyone who got in their way. However, they knew not to shoot at anything that got within a 20-foot radius of their two main attackers, which made sure not to harm them in any way.

Clarisse herself did not have any major injuries, as she had hacked into the database that was controlling the weapons, stopping them from advancing any further. A few scratches and

burns graced her arms, but it was nothing close to those of Kenneth and Paige. Clarisse decided to lay down for a bit and rest her head, which slightly ached from its overuse in the battle.

Clarisse was the brains of the team’s operations. She came up with brilliant ideas in the middle of battle, making her a valuable asset to the war. Her quick mind was able to pinpoint the problem in any type of situation and solve it, whether it be a riddle or a weapon the Superiors managed to make that was almost impossible to defeat. Despite this, she knew that this mission would never have been successful for them if her squad had not been there to help her. Paige and Kenneth were two very skilled fighters who were practically unstoppable as partners while fighting, and quite hard to defeat on their own. On the other hand, they were and always have been very competitive, challenging each other from betting on who will get to the training room first to who will defeat more weapons in the next battle. That’s where Ivan and Ivy come in. They are the majority of Paige and Kenneth’s impulse control, stopping them from going too far. The twins also have the attackers’ backs in battle, watching for enemies and other things that may get in the way of the mission.

Yet, the team would have never met if they had not escaped the Superior’s orphanage together. Yes, they were Superiors, genetically modified humans, working together with regular humans to win a war against their own race. Clarisse knew that a single misstep would make the humans lose most if not all trust in her squad, disband them, and send them to the Superiors, who had posted wanted signs all over the continent, searching for the small band of orphans who were the bane of their problems.

Clarisse had the power of controlling an optic lens that the Superiors built into her eyes, seeing the world like Iron Man with his helmet on all day. She could store data with a thought of doing so, take pictures, record videos, and analyze weapons, people, and many other things with her thoughts. The downside was that she could never lose this power, having it until the day she died. Kenneth, Paige, Ivan and Ivy had implants in their brains that made them smart from birth, while Clarisse was born just a couple of years before the technology had made its way into being a normal procedure for the Superiors.

Kenneth’s power had him working well with guns, having a scope built into his eyes, much like Clarisse’s optic lens. Paige was more or less the opposite, working with daggers, knives, and swords, always having a visual of where a person’s weak points were. Ivan and Ivy were both telepathic, always knowing what the other was saying and doing. This also gave them the power of mind control, and the ability to know where enemies and friends were, no matter if they were on the other side of the continent or not. However, Ivy is mute, rendered unable to speak because of an accident that occurred when she was just a baby.

Clarisse snapped back into reality, the brief synopsis of her and her friends taking control of her thoughts for roughly ten minutes, judging by the clock on the wall. She glanced around the room, noting that all of her friends were asleep by their breathing patterns, all except for one. Clarisse glanced at Kenneth, knowing he was fully awake and just pretending to sleep. Well, that didn’t stop her from walking over and sitting on the edge of his bed.

“What’re you thinking about?” she said, crossing her legs and leaning slightly against his back.

“Nothing much, but I really need to use the bathroom, so can you help me stand up?” he said, adjusting his bed to help him sit up properly as Clarisse rolled her eyes. Slowly, they walked to the bathroom, Clarisse helping him to walk by slinging his arm around her shoulders. She waited outside the door as Kenneth hobbled inside, taking care not to put pressure on his injured leg.

Loud footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Clarisse ducked behind a large houseplant conveniently located near the bathroom. She saw the familiar gray shine of the guards’ heavy boots, and waited for him to pass. After the minor danger had gone, the bathroom door creaked open, Kenneth peeking out to survey the scene. Seeing that the coast was clear, he looked around to find that Clarisse seemed to have disappeared.

Not wanting to take the chances of a guard finding him, he started to head back to the room, holding onto the wall for support. He heard quiet, fast footsteps behind him and snapped his head around to meet the gaze of Clarisse, who had gone to the bathroom herself and snuck up behind Kenneth in an attempt to scare him. Noticing her defeat, she slouched forward and led him into the room, where he almost flopped onto his bed, only to fall slowly due to the sharp pain of his injuries.

As they lay in their respective beds, Clarisse tracked everyone’s breathing patterns and heartbeats, noting similarities and irregularities to report to the nurses and doctors who came in the middle of the night to check up on their conditions. The nurses assigned the team to be in healing pods tomorrow, where Kenneth and Paige would stay for approximately six hours. Clarisse and the twins would stay in a waiting area, tended to by a general practitioner.

The next day went by in a blur, comments about the health of Clarisse’s comrades flying over her head. The nurses monitored them, confirming they were recovering at a normal rate. After the six-hour period, Kenneth and Paige went back to being their normal selves, bickering and arguing to the point where Clarisse and the twins had to separate them in order to restore peace in the team.

Days turned into weeks as the human race bounced back from their previous state of disarray. More soldiers applied than ever before, the power of the army growing substantially. Because of this, Kenneth and Paige authorized to teach the newcomers how to battle, training them to use a blade and a gun effectively. Clarisse taught them battle tactics and strategies, which was probably the worst subject for the cadets. They seemed to be quite bored in class and were practically itching to train with Kenneth and Paige. Clarisse knew this, and tried to make her class more enjoyable, getting the cadet’s grades up to a passing level, but nowhere near where she wanted them to be. Eventually, Clarisse figured out a way to make her students learn while letting them have fun. She was going to set up a mock battle, starring her team and her very own creations.


	2. Training

“Listen up cadets!” Clarisse spoke up amongst the sea of students that were crowded around her, ears perked up at the sound of her voice. “Today, we are practicing in the ring, where your skills and knowledge will be tested as you face advanced artillery developed by yours truly.” She picked up a small wireless ear receiver that wrapped around the side of an individual’s head and included a built-in camera and flashlight. Clarisse turned back to her students, whose curious eyes stared at the object in her hands before looking back at her. “This is your only method of communication, other than talking directly to another person. No sign language, taps, or signals permitted, understood?” A resounding “Yes ma’am!” echoed throughout the building, though Clarisse thought she heard a few mumbles of discontent rise up as well.

The cadets had chosen their spot in six groups, each containing fourteen members that would face a different mission depending on their strengths and weaknesses. Two of the groups included members that specialized in guns, but were having difficulty with blades. Another two had participants that could use any weapon to some degree, though never as good as those who focused on one kind. The last two squads consisted of those who were experts at wielding swords, their weakness being long-range munitions.

Clarisse had the groups work together to try to help others whose weaknesses were their strengths for about two hours. Afterwards, her undergraduates would get to rest and have lunch for an hour before getting back to work. They would then be doing drills for fifteen minutes to warm up for the obstacles Clarisse and her team had set up in the wide arena the militia had let them borrow for the next few days.

The sharpshooters were up first, heading out into the arena, seeing nothing but a hologram depicting a green landscape with clear blue skies. A rumble shook the ground as walls rose from the floor, surrounding the contestants. “Alright, this is your first objective, get through this maze with only daggers and swords, sounds easy enough right?” Clarisse’s voice boomed from her place at a balcony overlooking the stadium. The cadets nodded as she continued, “Though there is a catch. You must pair up with someone; one of you will act as their shield while the other will fight the enemies I have made.” Clarisse started the exercise as soon as everyone had found a partner, releasing her creations to wander around the labyrinth in search of their prey.

She watched as the small blips of blue and red on a map of the arena, occasionally glancing at the feed from the cameras attached to each participant’s ear receiver. Clarisse had programmed each of the seven robots she made to follow a path that allowed them to visit every nook and cranny of the maze, though she had made sure they would not cross paths with one

another. She leaned back in her chair as Kenneth entered the room. “General Samuel wants to see you,” he stated, eyes flickering up to gaze at the display that consumed Clarisse’s attention.

At this remark, she stood up, walking over to him. “Watch the monitor while I’m gone and contact me though your ear receiver if anything goes wrong,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder before ambling away, not wanting to report to the general. Kenneth sighed, sitting in the chair of the control room and narrowed his eyes at the screens in front of him. “I hope she gets back soon,” he said in a whisper, noticing that one of the flashing red dots turned to gray as two blue blips went through it.

Clarisse paced the hallway in front of the general’s office, pondering why the he had called her here at this time. It was in the middle of a training session, and it was too early to give a report on it. She stopped in her tracks when the door opened, saluting the high-ranking officer that emerged from it. He nodded lazily at her, gesturing for her to go in as he strolled away in the direction Clarisse had come from. She took a deep breath and exhaled, as she stepped into the room, not sure what would come next.

Kenneth ended the training sequence just as Clarisse stepped into the room. “They did great, nobody was injured and- hey are you okay?” he asked as she edged closer to him. “Get the team together, we’re going on a mission,” she said shakily, grasping his shoulders and looking him in the eye, “The Superiors have attacked the western border again; we have to head out and stop them.” Kenneth’s eyes widened at this, stepping away from her grasp and running to find the others as Clarisse pressed a button that activated the intercom. “Cadets, get ready to head out, the Superiors are attacking a base nearby and we need to help those there defend themselves. Report to your head officer immediately and they will guide you to where you need to go. This is not a drill,” she spoke into the microphone, hearing echoes of her voice resonate though the arena.

Clarisse wasted no time heading to her team’s quarters, where they had all gathered in a circle around a map that showed the Superior’s newest attacks. She stepped forward and cleared her throat to get their attention. “We have been assigned to attack the main city of the Superiors,” she stated, a few gasps emitting from her teammates. “The general has figured out that most of their weapons are currently attacking the western border, leaving the city wide open. Of course, this could just be a trap and we just fell for it, but what they don’t know is that the plans they stole from the last battle were decoys that called for us to have a major meeting at the western border. However, that changed to a city in the middle of the country, and its next week instead of today. The general thinks that this is the perfect time to ambush their capital and take back our freedom.”

Her squad took a second to process all of this information, realizing what they were getting themselves into, eyes widening fractionally. “What if- what if we are walking into a trap?” Paige asked, having to sit on her bed at the shock. “Then we turn tail and get out of there as fast as we can,” Clarisse said, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer in order to comfort her. “We are going in stealthily, and taking out their king as fast as we can. There will be other squads there to cover us while we do so, and the general has arranged for our safety to take priority over winning the battle. He doesn’t want to lose us, as much as he says he does.” Everyone fell into an uncomfortable silence, having to deal with the fact that the situation was so dire the whole team may not make it out of this battle alive.


	3. Freedom

Clarisse and her team headed to the airplane hangar, where the fighter jets known as the ‘Wolves’ were kept. They were currently the best jets in the military, as they contained pretty much everything you could imagine, from cushioned seats that felt heavenly to cloaking devices and long-range missiles. Clarisse had thoroughly examined the interior, designed by only the best architects and interior designers the military could get their hands on. The artillery of the planes had been quadruple-checked by multiple renowned scientists and weapon engineers and deemed to be safe to the pilot and crew. Clarisse had seen these planes in action, locking onto targets and hitting the mark, no exceptions. One time, after a Wolf had hit a steel clad building with one of its missiles, the explosion was so great that the cadets could see it from 50 miles away.

There were four other squads there, each made up of five people. Kenneth and Paige knew most of their faces as being some of the top fighters in the militia, right under them. The twins recognized others as being their classmates in their reconnaissance classes, knowing some as people who had gone so far as to make friends with a Superior just to get information. General Samuel assigned one jet to each squad, as to make their arrival less conspicuous. He showed them the basic controls of the jets, and then let them go for one test run each. Clarisse passed the run with flying colors because of her gift with machinery, but the rest of her squad did not do as well. Kenneth and the twins almost crashed twice on their runs, and Paige did an Icarus, flying too high for her own good. When she returned, she had sunburn all over her face and arms, which left everyone who had seen her cackling on the ground.

Every person present unanimously deemed Clarisse as the pilot for this mission as Paige rested in a healing pod for a few minutes. “Are all of you ready for this mission?” Clarisse asked, eyeing each of her teammates, waiting for their response. The twins exchanged looks and lowered their heads. “I think I speak for the whole team on this and, well, we’re not really mentally ready to risk their lives for this.” Ivan said, snapping his head up to meet Clarisse’s gaze, “But I think we’re ready to bring an end to Firdkash’s empire!” Clarisse chuckled at his small outburst, turning to her other companions, who nodded slightly, agreeing with Ivan.

Paige came back from the healing pod and soon enough, the team started their journey towards the castle that sat in the middle of enemy territory, the home of King Firdkash, the ruler of all Superiors. It was a two-hour long flight across the continent, the squad playing Mad Libs and I Spy to pass the time. Once they got bored of the games, they talked about topics that ranged from the latest gossip in the militia to why King Firdkash chose to live in the middle of a dry desert. The twins fell asleep after twenty minutes, the rest following soon after. Clarisse put the ship on autopilot, set an alarm to wake her up thirty minutes before arrival, and got some shut-eye in the control chair.

The ringing of the alarm in her ears jolted Clarisse awake as she slammed her palm against a button that said ‘Stop Alarm’. She scanned the area for any danger, and upon seeing none, headed into the cabin of the plane. Ivan and Ivy were snoring (as usual), Paige was currently in the stage of sleep known as REM, and Kenneth was in the bathroom. Clarisse went around and woke the three sleepyheads up, getting them to stretch and suit up for the battle ahead.

Time flew by, and soon enough there was Firdkash’s castle, an ocean of white and grey blocks scattered through four acres of land. Clarisse was able to scan the castle for threats and the rooms within, locating the guards that roamed the grounds of the majestic palace and the king, who was currently sitting in his throne room. “Alright team, let’s head out and hope for the best,” she stated, parking the Wolf a mile away from the castle, opting to use the small hover boards contained within the plane. She made sure the invisibility cloak was on as she stepped outside, the ship’s outline disappearing from view as she and her squad got farther and farther away from it. This was it, the mission the military recruited the orphans for. It was the battle of a lifetime, the one to end the war between genetically modified humans and their predecessors.

The team left the hover boards in some fox burrows near a window that led right into the king’s bedroom. The window was quite high up, but everyone managed to make it through safely thanks to the grappling hooks that Clarisse built into their suits. Kenneth and Paige took the lead, sneaking out into the hallway first and beckoning Clarisse and the twins to follow. Weapons at the ready and suits camouflaged, Clarisse and her squad made it all the way to the outside of the throne room before stopping in their tracks. Almost forty guards were standing in perfect formation in front of the gold-coated door, each one concentrating on slightly different parts of the stairwell Clarisse’s squad was in, as if expecting something were to attack from the darkness beyond. Clarisse mapped the area, noting that there were three stairwells and two hallways leading to the entryway of the throne room. She pulled up a small hologram that showed the location of other groups, and notified the nearest two to occupy the other two stairwells.

After they got into position, Clarisse sent out a message to everyone that read ‘Do not fire until my signal. Squadron Three, head to the king’s bedroom and guard the window there. Hide in his closet or under his bed to minimize the chances of you being spotted. Squadron Four, head to the guest bedroom on the hall I have indicated. If the king’s guards pursue us, you can buy us time once we pass you there. Team Clarisse, stay alert and do not let your guard down no matter what.’ Eight ‘Affirmatives’ were sent back at her, and Clarisse turned back to the task at hand, memorizing the location and formation of the guards.

She threw a small rock into one of the hallways, Kenneth using his scope to do the same. A satisfying ‘clunk’ sounded from both sides, the guards nearest to the halls striding towards the sounds. Clarisse then signaled for the snipers to take out the guards from those closest to the door to the farthest so the guards that stood further from the door could not see their comrades’ bodies’ fall to the floor and react before the snipers could shoot them. Not much more than a soft ‘thump’ announced the small victory for the humans, as the snipers had used silencers to block out any noise coming from their specialized guns. The same treatment applied to the guards that came back from the hallways, one falling right after another like dominoes. Once the teams finished dragging the dead away from the area, the three squads entered the throne room cautiously, not knowing what to expect.

The king sat in his chair, snoring quietly as the group approached him. “Is he dead?” Ivan whispered, examining his face and breathing patterns with an optic lens Clarisse had given him. “Not yet,” Paige replied, drawing her dagger from its scabbard, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. “Wait wait wait, I have a better idea,” Clarisse smirked, which only happened whenever she thought of something so out of the ordinary nobody would dare to do it, or would simply never had thought of.

“Ma’am, the wormhole is ready for transport,” a voice sounded from her earpiece, shocking everyone around her. “Clarisse, are you serious about this?” Kenneth asked, looking at her with an incredulous face, not wanting to believe that his best friend was about to transport the king of their enemy to some unknown place. “I’m positive, and I’m gonna make sure his entire empire goes out with him,” she replied, motioning for everyone to get out of the room as she put a suicide pill in his mouth as instructed by General Samuel.

Once all of the squads had flown far from the wormhole’s reach, Clarisse ordered the captain behind the creation of the wormhole to bring it down upon the king’s castle and its surrounding villages. She watched as the blue ring engulfed each building one by one, sending their inhabitants a few hundred galaxies away, where they were never to rule over a weaker civilization again. As the last portion of the castle faded into nothingness, the desert started sprouting grass and flowers, as if the corruption of the empire had affected not only the humans but also the land they had governed.

Clarisse spared a glance at her friends, seeing their shocked expressions and tears of what she hoped was happiness rolling down Paige’s cheeks. The twins were hugging each other, outright bawling at the sight of their enemy finally vanquished. However, Clarisse thought that Kenneth’s reaction was the one she looked forward to the most. His hand covered his gaping mouth, and for all the years she had known him, she had never seen him this close to crying. She pulled all of them in for a group hug, setting the Wolf on autopilot for the time being. Clarisse knew she had just rid the Earth of the worst enemy humankind had faced, but the only thing going through her mind was the saying ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’. Well, it was true in this moment, but Clarisse cleared her head of her train of thought and instead settled into the warmth of a sweet victory that would carve their names into the books for ages.


End file.
